Here are some books that I have found worthwhile, for the complete and utter beginner--really, preliminary to learning about genomics itself:

--Matt Ridley (1999). _Genome: The autobiography of a species in 23 chapters_. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

--James D. Watson [yes, _that_ James D. Watson] (2003). _DNA: The secret of life_. New York, NY: Knopf.

If you have any interest in the application of genomic science to psychology, this is a good place to start (presuming a basic knowledge of, say, the contents of a good Psych 101 course):

--Robert Plomin, John C. Defries, Ian W. Craig, and Peter McGuffin [Eds.] (2003). _Behavioral genetics in the postgenomic era_. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Best of luck to you.

--Mark Koltko-Rivera